Our Redeemer's Blog

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Forging a future, or just nuts?

Reading the Sunday paper, almost every word of it, is something I look forward to every weekend, and sometimes I don’t finish until Monday.

In the Seattle Times on May 17 the article by Jeff Layton caught my eye: Camping with a newborn: forging his future, or just nuts?

We’re avid tent campers in our family, but with a newborn? The couple went camping with their two week old baby!!! Maybe that IS nuts.

I learned that, while not easy, the parents and infant both did just fine and survived with very few hiccups. It was impressive to read how Mom and Dad cooperated to keep the baby comfortable while they nurtured their need to get outdoors, especially during the first few rather stressful weeks of parenting.

At the end of the article a doctor from Seattle Children’s commented, ”Early infancy is all about environmental stimulation, and sights, sounds, smells and touch will cement brain stimulation, reflexes and personality that should last a lifetime.” The camping parents weren’t nuts after all.

Let make the connection to an infant being brought to worship. Think of the sounds and sights a little one experiences in the worship setting: music, singing, voices praying in unison, and oh those many faces! Little ones may get more out of worship than we realize!

Not that it’s easy to get everyone ready and out of the house on a weekend morning. And taking care of all those baby needs in a setting outside of the house requires planning: diapers, food, little toys, needing a nap.

It always makes me glad to see parent cooperate in caring for the baby’s needs during worship, and going to the nursery is also an option. When little ones gurgle, chew on their toys, drop things, or even “complain”, I see these as joyful noises and, as a grandmother, I rejoice that a new little one is getting the brain stimulation that can last a lifetime, forming a basis for learning more about God when the time is right.

Parents, you’re not nuts. Bring your little ones to worship!

-Terry Anderson

 

 

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